Family
by Nalahime
Summary: Sephiroth, Genesis, Angeal, Zack and Cloud find out from Heidegger that Hojo had created a supposedly second Sephiroth, a second perfect specimen. Enraged and remembering what he had to go through because of the mad professor does the General set out to save that poor creation. One-Shot.


**Rating: T**

 **Genre: Drama / Action / Romance / Angst / Humor / Alternative Universe / One-Shot  
**

 **Warnings: Zack x Cloud / Violence**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing of FF7 or KH. Just the plot for this  
**

* * *

 ** _XxXoOo_ – parts from LOVELESS**

 **XxXoOo – flashbacks**

* * *

 **Family**

* * *

He had Heidegger roughly pushed against the sterile, white wall without mercy, choking him half to death as he wheezed for air like a dying pig. The blood red ShinRa Symbol right behind him, bore he the resemblance to a pinned, fat butterfly. Only one sentence had pushed him to this decision:

"Another Sephiroth,... marvelous...!"

"I-I know n-nothing!" he squealed while struggling vainly against the General´s grip on him, wheezing.

"Liar," the silverette almost whispered, but in such a low tone that the threat in it was unmistakable. "Tell me what you know. You know where he hid it, don´t you?" his voice was calm, but his eyes spoke another violent language.

His eyes were mere slits, glaring at the fat man in front of him who held his utmost despise. Only a few moments before, while the silver haired SOLDIER General had walked down a corridor with his close friends, had he heard the small, fat male mumble about a second Sephiroth, a second experiment left by the deceased Professor Hojo that was to be a perfect specimen. He could not let this slip, could not let such a horrible possibility exist.

"Th-that...," Heidegger stammered with Sephiroth´s patience finally snapping.

"Talk or you will never talk again!" he hissed with venom, drawing Masamune with a fast, fluid motion.

The light reflected off of the perfect steeled blade, blinding the man momentarily, the black hilt firm in strong black, gloved hands. Dangerously close halted it against the black haired man´s throat, leaving a shallow cut in the overlapping skin and fat, blood dribbling down silently, warningly.

"Underground! He hid him underground in a laboratory no one knows about! I really don´t know much more! I wanted to find him and see if I couldn´t use the brat for my own purposes!" the green clad fool squeaked in terror, eyes wide.

Sephiroth´s heart stopped for a moment at those words, picking up fast again and rapidly beating against his chest – fear and dread settling in.

"Brat, you said? How old is... well, he? Is he male?"

Heidegger nodded his head quickly, eyes bulging out of his head, flitting every which way, just not stopping on the dangerous man – nay, monster – in front of him.

"He should be fourteen by now from what I once heard from Hojo. He also got a name instead of a number."

"Another indication that Hojo thought him to be a success...," the General whispered lowly, remembering his own time with the mad man, remembering the "specimen" with numbers.

He let go of the over grown rat and turned thoughtfully towards his friends, while the man just scurried off in a panic, cursing inwardly, almost falling over himself in his haste. Sephiroth´s eyes narrowed in thought as he processed the current information. Another one, cursed to the same existence as him...? The black clad General closed his eyes in thought, musing over past and present.

"What are you going to do, Sephiroth?" Genesis asked with a sad smile, while crossing his arms over his chest, bringing the Demon of Wutai out of his reverie.

"Save him of course, right, Seph?" Zack piped in, while hugging his blond lover, Cloud, close to him, nuzzling his nose into his hair, breathing his scent of sunshine in.

Undoubtedly had he remembered the time when he had rescued the young man from Hojo´s lab just a few years ago, shortly before Hojo had died. Cloud had been another, but more recent experiment from the mad scientist, who Zack had found by accident as the blond had managed to escape briefly from the assistants of the glasses wearing maniac.

"If he is really still alive, which is possible, then I really suggest trying to save him. That is if he hasn´t gone insane," Angeal remarked and glanced towards the General, peering into his light jade-green eyes, seeking confirmation or denial.

"If you won´t go, I´ll go, Seph. No one wants to live like that. You know that just as well as I do," Cloud threw in with a determined look in his cerulean eyes.

Sephiroth finally nodded and straightened himself, letting Masamune back into its sheath. He had to finally close the chapter called Hojo in his life, for that young man who was still captive as well.

"You are all correct. Let us go find that boy. No one deserves a forgotten fate or one where you are nothing but a guinea pig to some crazy, power driven man."

" _ **My friend, your desire is the bringer of life, the gift of the goddess**_ ," Genesis whispered with a grin to which everyone smiled in agreement and moved like one unit towards the presidents office.

If anyone could know where the lab was had it to be that one man.

* * *

 _ **KHFF7**_

* * *

Zack cursed under his breath as he hit a fist against a nearby wall. Everyone else was silent, staring at some point or another in thought outside of the Presidents office. The President had refused to talk to them about it and as much as they had wanted to just threaten him into talking were all of them not eager to get chased around by the whole of ShinRa. Sephiroth sighed inwardly as he let his mind go over every possibility they had right now.

"Maybe I can help you some with your problem," a familiar voice suddenly said and they turned towards it in surprise.

In front of them stood Rufus Shinra, son of President Shinra, accompanied by the Second-in-Command of the Turks, Reno.

"What do you mean, sir?" Sephiroth asked warily while Rufus gave him a crooked smile.

"I know more about the company than people give me credit for, General. I don´t know the specific position of the laboratory you are looking for, but I can point you in the right direction. For a price, of course."

Eyes narrowed, Sephiroth tried not to growl in displeasure. He hated being threatened, blackmailed or put under pressure. Such things were beneath him, because he was normally the one to do these things – he was the General for Gaia´s sake!

"And what, if I may be so rude to ask, do you wish in exchange, sir?" he almost seethed.

"Nothing grand. Only a little help when my father´s... time has come, General Sephiroth. You understand?"

"Perfectly, sir," he replied with a snarl turning into a half smirk, when he envisioned the President with Masamune in his intestines.

"Good. Do we have a deal then, gentlemen?" Rufus asked and smiled at every single 1st Class SOLDIER in the round.

One look and one nod was all it took to seal the unwritten contract between them. The SOLDIERS knew too well the horror of being an experiment of Hojo to hesitate now.

"Very well. Reno, guide them. You know where to go to, right?"

"Oh, come on, boss! Do I gotta really go, yo?" the redheaded Turk asked and slumped his shoulders, trying to look pitiable.

"Yes, move it, Reno!"

Rufus´s cold voice left no room for arguments and Reno scoffed, burying his hands in his suit pants pockets.

"Whatever..." he waved off and trudged towards the elevator. "You coming, folks? Or do ya need an invitation, yo?"

* * *

 _ **KHFF7**_

* * *

He simply let his sword slice through the clean steel door and stepped into the dark room, which was only dimly illuminated by the glow of Mako inside of a giant glass tank. The greenish glow was all there was as a light source, but of course was that no problem for him, a SOLDIER. His jade-green eyes widened as they met with another pair of jade-green eyes in the Mako. They were only a few shades darker than his and bore directly into his own lighter ones. No surprise lingered in them, they simply gazed at him with apprehension and defiance glowing within them.

The young male was floating in the Mako, his whole body chained down in heavy metal, the lower half of his face covered by a black thing with a tube attached to it, that was leading outside the glass and into a whirring machine. Sephiroth turned the light on and the rest of the group pushed themselves through the demolished door and fell silent as well once they laid their eyes upon the male.

The laboratory was held in the usual clean white and the bright light was blinding. Computers and machines as well as paper from files were strewn across the floor and in the middle of it all stood like a warning tower that tank - filled with the only color in the room, holding the only living creature in the room.

"Never thought there would really be a small lab down here, yo," Reno whispered while backing up against a wall with a shudder down his spine.

"He looks a lot like you, Seph," Zack remarked with raised eyebrows, staring still at the youth in the tank.

Silence reigned for a while as they all observed the youth in astonished awe and the boy observing back with apprehension, almost fear for his uncertain future at the hands of this group of men.

"Lets get him out of there first, before we continue," Cloud said finally, stepping in front of a console with many buttons and monitors. "How do I open this?"

The male in the Mako stirred, turning his gaze towards Cloud, whose back was towards the youth. He seemed to try to point to a specific spot, but was unable to do so due to his restricted movement. Angeal looked into the generally pointed direction and noticed a red button near the tank, big letters of EMERGENCY placed under it in bright red. He stopped in front of it and looked at the child in the Mako.

"Do I push this one?" he asked, which was replied with a short nod.

The older man furrowed his eyebrows as he looked between the youth and the button, unsure if he should push it.

"You think he is to be trusted? He could just as well try to kill us as soon as he is out of there, mistaking us for some greedy ShinRa bastards," Genesis said, close behind the raven, one eyebrow raised as he gazed towards the child, mistrusting.

Then Sephiroth stepped in front of the tank and looked the young male into his eyes. He was searching for something specific in them and touched a hand gingerly to the glass, making the youth´s eyes widen slightly, not evading the gaze off of the older silverette. Emotions swirled between them through the cold glass, making them both breathe easier.

Sephiroth could feel how a connection was formed the instant he had touched the glass. He could feel the confusion, fear, hate, sadness, loneliness, yearning and much more that raged through the boy. He should have been surprised, shocked even that they had an emotional connection all of a sudden, but it seemed too natural to care about it, so he shrugged it off without another thought, focusing on the child in front of him.

"Do you know who I am?" he asked calm and got responded with a curt nod.

"Then you know that I had to go through similar treatment as you?"

Again a nod.

"Will you believe me when I say that Hojo has died and that I am here to help you, boy?"

A hesitating nod with uncertainty being clearly portrait in those shining orbs.

"Can you promise me then not to cause any trouble for me and my friends, once you´re out? And that you won´t attack us?"

An immediate nod followed with serious eyes. The General could feel the honesty in the response and smiled very lightly at the boy, his hand leaving the glass, falling to his side, his eyes staying trained on his darker counterparts.

"Open that thing up, Geal. I can´t stand this place any longer than this," Sephiroth said, while he stepped back, still not averting his gaze off from the youth.

"If you say so, old friend," Angeal replied and let his fist crush down on the button.

A blearing sound echoed through the laboratory and a mechanic, cool voice which announced:

"Emergency button activated on specimen R. I repeat: emergency button activated on specimen R. Please, proceed with high caution."

The Mako drained out of the tank at the ground in a small whirl, the chains came off of the muscular, light-skinned, well proportioned body with a clank as their ends hit the glass, the black tube was ripped off by shaking hands and the young silvery-white haired child slumped forward with a coughing fit, while the glass slid into the ground, opening up.

Sephiroth carefully caught the weak male before he could fall onto the ground and lifted him up into his arms, bridal style, keeping him securely and protective close. The youth said nothing as he stared at the General, who he was so alike to, yet looked vastly different to.

He gingerly raised a trembling hand, hesitantly and touched Sephiroth´s cheek softly, who locked eyes with him and couldn´t help himself but smile softly in return at the other, tempted to take that hand into his own, if he didn´t need it for holding him right now. Something was stirring in the General´s heart – unfamiliar, yet something he seemed to have been looking for all his life.

It was odd to see this type of picture and the others looked at one another in surprise. Their friend rarely showed open affection if any at all and when he did was it mostly present in his voice, not his actions. But the emotions rolling off their most closed off friend were immense and seemed to break the walls of the icy General.

"Lets go, everyone," the silverette said, when the youth´s eyes had fallen shut, his mask back in place. "I don´t think we have anything else to do here."

No one had noticed when the redheaded Turk had left the room.

* * *

 _ **KHFF7**_

* * *

Once they had reached the General´s apartment had they laid down the boy in the king sized bed of the 1st within his bedroom, which sported white, black and midnight-blue as a color theme. The walls were white with three midnight-blue bordures, one at the top, the ground and the middle. On the white and black boarded floor was around the bed a fluffy midnight-blue carpet laid out.

Else than a small, black night table on both sides of the bed and a television at the wall across the bed, was the room empty. However, there was another door visible that looked like that of a closet.

Zack had once found out that it was the General´s private walk-in-closet and it was huge. There was even another adjacent to the guest room, but that one wasn´t used by the silverette for reasons unexplained.

After making sure that the boy was sleeping soundly had they then assembled in the living room with its black and white furniture and accenting green plants. A huge black couch stood in the middle, together with a large, white, glass table. Odd seeming for many was the space mostly used up by black and white bookshelves, although plants were filling empty space in them as well. The General, contrary to civilian belief, adored plants and flowers a great deal.

At a loss for what to do now, the group of SOLDIERS stood simply in the room and thought about what was best now. After some time passed had they seated themselves across the room and often were looks exchanged in understanding and answered with a nod or a shake of the head, before the question was even asked. There was much to be considered. The boy was young after all, needed shelter, explanations of the situation and much more. However, Zack finally broke the brooding mood, when he thought about what the boy needed first when he woke up: clothes! So he flashed his trademark smile at his friends and exclaimed excited with a laugh and sparkling violet eyes:

"Guess its time to buy some clothes for the pipsqueak, huh? I mean he can´t go around wearing Seph´s or some of our clothes. He would drown in them!"

Leave it to Zackary Fair to raise the mood, when the gloom got too intense. Angeal nodded and also gave a small smile at that, picturing "their kid" in some of his clothes – cute, but not appropriate.

"Well, then. Who goes shopping and who stays here?"

"I´ll definitely go. You guys have no sense for fashion," Genesis stated flatly and started already towards the door. " _ **Even if the morrow is barren of promises, nothing shall forestall my return**_ ," he grinned while exiting the room with a theatrical swing of his red leather coat, to which the others simply sighed at, being used to the little antics of their friend.

"I´ll go too. I´m the closest in age to him after all," Cloud hurriedly said and followed the auburn haired male out the door.

"Its a good thing Cloud goes with him. Gen can get over the top sometimes when he´s fired up, after all. Our young friend can at least keep him in check," Angeal said half laughing, to then turn towards the steel and black granite kitchen. "I think I´ll cook something. I can imagine that our guest is hungry when he wakes up."

"Oh, I´ll help you, Geal!" Zack chimed and threw an arm over his mentor´s shoulder while they walked into mentioned room.

Sephiroth looked after them, to then let his eyes wander towards his bedroom door. Curiously he opened it and walked inside, to close the door quietly behind him and seat himself beside the bed, covered in black silk sheets and pillows strewn between midnight-blue ones. He gazed at the male sleeping peacefully under the covers and could do nothing else but smile. Somehow, that boy had something that drew him towards him and he wanted to know what that was.

He let a hand gently glide through silver-white, soft strands of hair, pushing them out of a perfect looking face with light-skinned, smooth skin, eyes closed with long perfectly curved eyelashes touching upon slight rose colored cheeks. The boy looked so much like him, but had other features mixed in that made him look different from himself. The General sighed as he continued to stroke the child´s hair, having him snuggle closer to him with a content smile.

Sephiroth stayed that way until he heard how his apartment door was opened and closed. He walked – with lingering regret - back into the living room, where Genesis and Cloud stood with big smiles on their faces and tons of to the brim filled shopping bags.

"Did you rob twenty shops without payment again, Genesis?" Sephiroth asked dryly while staring at the huge bags that filled practically half the room now.

"No, this time not, Sephiroth. I only threatened them that I would set their stores on fire if they tried to overcharge me," he smiled cheekily with a hand movement, to slide a stray lock back and out of his face. "Just kidding. Cloud and I only figured that our kid needed more than just clothes if he wants to live properly, is all."

"And where do you think you can put all that?"

"Well," Cloud began with hesitation. "We thought he could live with you, Seph. You have more room than you need. Don´t you have a huge guest room that is never used and a second bathroom?"

The General raised an eyebrow. Him living with someone else? Preposterous!

"Are you out of your mind? You know that I am socially... unable..." he quieted down with a frown.

He hated to admit to being bad at something.

"I think its actually a good idea, Sephiroth," Angeal remarked who had stepped into the room. "That boy has probably gone through much that is vastly alike to your own ordeal, so maybe he will open up to you the most. Besides, I could imagine that he will have similar social problems as you. You could teach him bit by bit and grow together with him."

"Even you, Geal...," the General sighed and rubbed over his eyes with annoyance.

"Oh, come on, Seph!" Zack smiled while throwing an arm over the silverette´s shoulder. "You know that Geal and Gen live together and Cloud and me and that we all don´t have room for any more people. You´re the only one with enough space left in his apartment! Besides, I´m sure it´ll be fun for you too and you seem to just click with the kid!"

"Click?" he simply asked, confused, furrowing his brows.

"Yeah, you mix well! Heck, Seph! When he was in your arms and he gazed at you, were you smiling at the boy like he was your son or something! Like he´s precious to you!"

Sephiroth blinked a few times and then remembered that Zack had told the truth. He had smiled at the boy! And with an unexplainable feeling of warmth no less! He gave a last sigh before he gave up the argument, which hadn´t been one to begin with in retrospect.

"Fine, I´ll let him live with me."

A small cheer erupted from the friends and then, Genesis with Angeal´s help, carried the bags into the guest room, while Zack went to get dinner ready. It was odd how they functioned like it was the most normal thing in the world without being related at all.

"Um, Seph? I think he is awake," Cloud said directly looking at the bedroom door.

Sephiroth turned and saw how the youth stared at them, wrapped inside the bed cover, no emotion playing on his face. Jade locked onto jade and warmth spread through the silverette again, making him take a step forward, but Zack had come back in with the filled dishes in hand and stood there, openly with his jaw dropped, to then yell:

"Geal, Gen! He´s awake! Hurry up, you two!"

A memory tucked at the young males mind as he heard that yell, something dark from his past he feared, and his eyes narrowed as he almost growled with a snarl.

" **Oh, so you are out of your tank?" the professor asked in a cold voice. "Gallen! Kell! Put that little monster back into its cage! Hurry up, you two!"**

 **And again was he dragged back into his prison, into that place he could not escape through his own effort. Doomed to obey and chained, robbed of his freedom.**

The boy reacted automatically it seemed as he had rushed forward as fast as his tired body would let him and had now a very unique looking black, red, curved sword, formed distantly like a key at the spiky haired ravens neck, threatening his life. Angeal and Genesis stopped in their tracks as they came into the room, witnessing the scene played out before them.

They all tensed up and Cloud was almost with his hand on his Tsurugi when Sephiroth held him back with one hand on his shoulder. Slowly he moved towards the pair, when he heard a very cracked, but smooth voice speak.

"Don´t move any further or this one´s dead before you can take your next breath, Sephiroth."

The General stopped and looked at the young male, coolly as he replied:

"You promised not to attack us, remember?"

"Well, then maybe he shouldn´t have yelled for help so instantaneously," the child growled, but other than that being passive. "I´m glad to be out of there and don´t plan on going back. Sorry for the disappointment, buddies" he said nonchalant with a hint of sarcasm.

"He didn´t yell for help, boy. That is just how Zack is: loud and very thoughtless. He simply wanted to inform his two friends over there of your awakening, because we had been looking forward to it. That is all. Is that a satisfying explanation for you or should I expand it?"

Finally turned the deep jade-green eyes away from Zack and shortly towards Genesis, Angeal, Cloud and him, to return to Zack. He remained a little longer in his position, staring into the raven´s honest violet orbs – not finding any lie, aggression, disgust or hate in them - until he simply shrugged his shoulders in dismissal and lowered his sword to his side. Relieved the raven sighed and placed the dishes on the table beside him, rubbing his throat, only to be instantaneously tackled by his lover, clinging to his neck.

"You´re so freaking stupid, Zack Fair! Don´t shout like that in front of a traumatized child!"

"Sorry, sorry, Cloud. Really. I didn´t expect him to react in that way. I wasn´t thinking, okay?"

"Idiot," Cloud hissed mildly and released him again to turn towards the youth. "I´m sorry. This guy can be really stupid, but his heart is in the right spot."

The male shrugged his shoulders again and looked around, curious. Dark, jade-green eyes scanned over the room, confusion playing in them, observant.

"Where am I?" he finally asked, turning to the General and staring at him.

"In my apartment," Sephiroth answered to which the other remained silent for a moment, thoughtful.

"So, this is an apartment then. A place you live in and spent your free time, right? Interesting, I guess. It seems to fit you. It gives off the same vibe as you."

"Thank you, I suppose. Say, do you have a name or do I have to call you boy all the time?"

The youth smiled slightly, the first real expression since they met him for else he had seemed stoic, except for his eyes and voice.

"I was called Riku if you want to know, so I guess I´ll allow you to do that as well."

"What do you mean 'was called'? Did Hojo call you that?" Genesis asked curious.

"No. For Hojo I was only specimen R."

"Then who called you Riku?" Angeal inquired interested.

"My mother used to call me that, before Hojo killed her when I was five. She had tried to release me from the tank, but Hojo had noticed it and shot her from behind..." Riku fell silent upon that with a pained expression he tried not to show, but failed at.

Apparently he was much more open and social than Sephiroth.

"I am sorry we asked," Angeal finally said after a long while and bowed his head in apology.

"It´s fine. It´s the past," Riku responded, trying to wave it off.

"So, if you know who your mother was, do you also know your dad? And please don´t tell me its Hojo or I´d have to gag!" Zack exclaimed with a joking expression.

"Well, its not the lunatic..." the boy evaded, to fast look towards the General and to the side.

Sephiroth quirked an eyebrow at that reaction and said, not even really meaning it:

"Don´t tell me that I am supposed to be your father?"

Everyone in the room stared at the silverette for a dry joke like that, but Riku didn´t deny it, so they turned to him again in disbelief.

"You´re kidding," Cloud murmured.

"Can´t be," Zack agreed, while rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish, unsure grin.

"He hadn´t even had intercourse with anyone," Genesis remarked while Angeal stayed silent and looked at his childhood friend with a very serious and exasperated expression.

"What? It´s true, he´s a damn virgin and that´s proven!"

Riku shifted uncomfortably in place and looked towards Sephiroth again.

"I only know what Hojo and my mother told me," he began hesitantly. "Supposedly Hojo had taken some semen from Sephiroth when he had been around eighteen and had my mother getting pregnant with it around a year and a half later. They never had intercourse with each other. My mother was just as much a prisoner as I was. The psycho supposedly thought her to be the most fitting woman to give birth to his perfect specimen´s child or something. In any case: I am not certain if its true. My mother didn´t know either whose semen it was, she had gotten back then. Sorry."

The room was filled with a thick and heavy silence until Sephiroth calmly broke it:

"Genesis. How about you take him to his room and get him dressed? Afterwards we can still muse about the problem who his father is."

"Oh, uh, right. Come on, lad. Follow me."

Riku nodded his head and followed the auburn haired male into the guest room, having everyones eyes on him.

"So how do we figure this out, guys?" Zack asked and looked at his friends.

"I´ll take him down to the labs with me and we make a test. DNA doesn´t lie after all. Then we´ll know if what Hojo told Riku is true or not," Sephiroth answered and looked at the door of his guest room. "But not today. I don´t think that he wants to see anymore of a laboratory today. I´ll ask him tomorrow if he is alright with the idea and explain to him the procedures if he doesn´t know them. I´m sure it will be alright."

"A good course of action. I think that will be the fastest and easiest way to get a definite solution for this problem," Angeal agreed and nodded his head in thought.

"And what if he really is your son, Seph? What will you do then?" Cloud remarked and looked at the General with serious, hard eyes. "You know, you can´t just pick him up and throw him away from you again if you can´t deal with him. And he is not a pet either. He is still young and probably needs education, so he can stand on his own feet. You´ll be his haven in this world if he doesn´t have anyone else to turn to, Seph – that is if you accept him as your son officially."

Sephiroth blinked for a moment, processing his young friend´s words. It was true. If he really was his son...

"I see... I haven´t thought about all that yet, but I want to take responsibility for Riku. Even if I didn´t have him be my child willingly, he is my child nonetheless or most probably at least and that means that I am his only blood relation. And even if he isn´t we do share a connection."

"Not only that, but he would be your only living relative as well, Seph," Zack smiled. "You two would be family. Simple as that."

The General blinked a few times more and nodded his head slowly, letting that realization sink into his mind.

"Yes," he murmured with a soft voice, "we are... family."

* * *

 **A/N: I am actually for once thinking about extending this, so who knows, maybe I will. See you! And thanks for reading!**


End file.
